Getting stronger but no weight gain

[EMW14]

Just what the title says. I'm training pretty hard and consistently. Slowly getting stronger (on most exercises; my bench press goes up and down a little, hovering right around 300-315 for max weight during a workout - this has always been my weakest exercise). Squat weight and reps are both up, deadlift is the same... I can SEE some growth in my traps... but my weight is staying pretty much the same. I hover right under 200 lbs. Usually 194 or so when I first wake up, then 197 sometimes 198 after I get some water in me.

So, what gives? Am I not eating enough? Seems like if I increase my food intake I just start to get fat, which I'm not interested in one bit... Right now I show a solid 4-pack in the abs department; could maybe say a soft 6-pack, don't wanna put any more around the middle than I have already. But maybe calories are the answer?

 

[mmajake]

How many meals are you eating each day?

 

[EMW14]

Usually 5, sometimes 4. Not counting post workout "After Shock" drink, which is 190 or so calories.

Typical meals look like this:

1: 1 cup oatmeal with 2 tsp peanut butter, 1 XL egg with 1/2 cup egg whites.

2: If I'm at work, it's an exact repeat of 1. If not, it might be a half a chicken breast and a piece of fruit or two.
3: Half lb burger or 8-10 oz round steak and a half cup of rice.

4: whole chicken breastfeeding and a half cup rice
5: Dinner could be anything. Salmon, London broil with sweet potato; shrimp stir fry over rice with lots of veggies; chicken teriyaki over rice; gluten free spaghetti and meatballs with sausage; last night we were out, so it was grouper with shrimp and scallops over rice.

This is just a sample; often two big Italian sausages are #3 instead of burger or steak; sometimes steak is #4 instead of chicken, etc. At least 1 salad a day and other veggies thrown in...

 

[mmajake]

Sounds like your not eating enough..... I'm far from a diet expert but I'm sure others will chime in. My advice would be to meal prep and bump to 7-8 meals a day upping carbs a little.

 

[EMW14]

I was afraid of that... I don't think I can fit 7 or 8 meals a day in with regard to time, nevermind the expense! Holy crap, you should see our grocery bill already... But I'll see what I can do to up the calories. I can fit one more meal in before bed and maybe can add some to my other 5 during the day.

 

[NAIR]

Diet was the first thing that came to my mind. It's usually the culprit. In your case, it doesn't seem you're taking in enough calories. But we'd need more info, including your height and ideally your b/f. But your goals are unclear to me too, so I'm going to say we need altogether more info.

 

[EMW14]

I just realized autocorrect substituted "breastfeeding" in place of chicken "breast" in my response earlier... Lol, when will I give up on that stupid feature and just turn it off???

Anyway, height is 5-10, bf is roughly 10% as measured with a $4 caliper using the 3-point measurement and conversion chart. Weight as stated is 193-4 immediately after waking, around 197-198 during the day, with some food and water in me.

Goals are lean gains right now. I'd like to see 210 or 215 on the scale at this bf %. Assuming I eventually get to 210 or 215 I would then try to take off another % or 2 in bf.

 

[Elvia1023]

I was going to write if strength is going up that is a good side. Plus if you are lifting with good bb form and progression is being made then size is sure to follow. However after seeing your diet you are 100% not eating enough. Don't just add a few meals as mentioned. Just simply add 1 meal and go from there and see where you are at in a few weeks. Move up progressively with everything... including diet. Diet is too specific and one answer doesn't fit all. But if you are lean a good and very cheap way to bump up calories is to have a spoon of peanut/almond butter a few times daily in between meals.

 

[EMW14]

I was thinking of adding a protein shake with half a cup of oats mixed in daily. That would be easy to fit in in terms of time, and would add some decent quality calories. I'm thinking start with that and monitor my bf %, see where I go from there. What do y'all think of that?

Last night I tried a Greek yogurt concoction my wife eats as her last meal of the day: for her it's a half cup of Greek yogurt, plain; half a scoop of vanilla ice cream flavored protein powder; a little Stevia sweetener; blueberries and cinnamon. I eyeball ed the yogurt, added a full scoop of protein powder and added raspberries in addition to the blueberries. My wife really likes this snack, it's also a "treat", a night time dessert for her.

I should say that I do not like yogurt. But it LOOKS good, almost like vanilla ice cream. And I tried a bite of hers, and found it tolerable. Well, by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl, I couldn't stand it anymore.... the texture of yogurt is just disgusting to me! I won't be trying that again!

 

[Metal85]

Damn look at my arch nemesis NAIR on here. I agree with NAIR.
I was having some similar issues, I am 5'9" and got up to 218, but I was having water retention issues, despite taking in 1 gallon of water a day, not total fluids, just water alone. Turns out I have Chronic Kidney Disease, so I had to change shit up a bit.
Try doing crunches every single day (for a few months and than look to see a difference), up your food, watch your complex carbs and track your water. I'd eat more, but choose what you're eating, don't just eat anything if you are on that line of having or not having abs.
Plus what do you take?

 

[Elvia1023]

I was thinking of adding a protein shake with half a cup of oats mixed in daily. That would be easy to fit in in terms of time, and would add some decent quality calories. I'm thinking start with that and monitor my bf %, see where I go from there. What do y'all think of that?

Last night I tried a Greek yogurt concoction my wife eats as her last meal of the day: for her it's a half cup of Greek yogurt, plain; half a scoop of vanilla ice cream flavored protein powder; a little Stevia sweetener; blueberries and cinnamon. I eyeball ed the yogurt, added a full scoop of protein powder and added raspberries in addition to the blueberries. My wife really likes this snack, it's also a "treat", a night time dessert for her.

I should say that I do not like yogurt. But it LOOKS good, almost like vanilla ice cream. And I tried a bite of hers, and found it tolerable. Well, by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl, I couldn't stand it anymore.... the texture of yogurt is just disgusting to me! I won't be trying that again!

I love mixing aminos in to a good quality greek yoghurt. Flavours such as cherry or passion fruit go best (fruit flavours). Yes an oat meal would be ideal. You could have it with eggs or protein powder. Adding almond/peanut butter is a great way to bump up the calories. One of my favourite meals is cooked oats then I add a scoop of flavoured whey. I find the likes of chocolate, toffee, cookies and cream etc go best with oats. Then I add banana and chia seeds. Although mixing in some nut butter makes it taste amazing too. So that meal is gonna be at least 700 calories extra for you which will make a big difference on top of what you are already eating. Adding a small shake of good quality whey isolate such as synthergine to some meals is another good way to bump up protein and over time muscle growth etc.

 

[EMW14]

I don't take much: 150 mg a week test cypionate and 50 mcg/day igf-1

 

[jolt]

Try uping the calories by 1000

 

[EMW14]

I started trying to figure out at least roughly how many calories I'm currently eating. Once I get that figured out I guess that should help to figure how much more to add.

I don't know if I'll have the apetite to increase by 1,000. Actually, I'm pretty certain I won't! I added about 1/3 cup of oats to both of my oatmeal servings today, for a total of 1-1/3 cups each time plus roughly 2 to 2.5 tbsp peanut butter also both times. That's probably double my usual amount of peanut butter in the oats. So right there I added 300 calories or so.

Lunch was a cup of rice and a large chicken breast, about a pound prior to cooking.

Afternoon snack was a 10 oz (again, before cooking) round steak and a salad.

And dinner... Wow, was dinner good! Over a pound (measured after cooking this time) of swordfish steak coated with olive oil and minced garlic (absolutely delicious!), corn on the cob, and a large portion of potato salad. Man, was THAT good!

I'll try to get a handle on the calories involved and report back what I come up with.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the input so far, everyone who's chimed in.

 

[PUMPED]

Sorry but what is the question? Are you judging progress on Bench, Squat and Dead lifts going up, what the scale reads or what your body fat is measuring at as a tool or guild line. Bro you really need to re think things as a sign of progress. Just some advice take it or leave it. If those three movements are going up in a positive way every week then your doing something right. unless your making weight for something who gives a shit what the scale reads, when was the last time anybody was judged on there body fat numbers also.

Stick to what your doing because the big 3 lifts are going up right? remove the scale and that a $4 caliper.

 

[EMW14]

Sorry but what is the question? Are you judging progress on Bench, Squat and Dead lifts going up, what the scale reads or what your body fat is measuring at as a tool or guild line. Bro you really need to re think things as a sign of progress. Just some advice take it or leave it. If those three movements are going up in a positive way every week then your doing something right. unless your making weight for something who gives a shit what the scale reads, when was the last time anybody was judged on there body fat numbers also.

Stick to what your doing because the big 3 lifts are going up right? remove the scale and that a $4 caliper.

Lol! So basically, you think I'm thinking too much..... Ok, point taken. To answer your question, my question in the first place is: I'm getting stronger, why am I not getting any bigger?

As far as the scale and the caliper goes, I cannot rely on the mirror to tell me what's going on. For whatever reason, I tend to not see myself accurately. So the scale tells me if I'm gaining weight, and the caliper tells me if the weight I'm gaining is lean muscle, or if I'm getting fat. That's why I do what I do with those things.

But thanks for your comments, you're probably right! It does seem like stronger would have to equal bigger sooner or later!

Still, I'm going to try to follow through with the calorie exercise, at least roughly, because I truly have no idea how many calories I'm eating.

 

[Mountain_Man]

Eat more red meats and tatters chicken is good but for bulking size and strength nothing beats that combo

 

[jolt]

I use to use a cell phone app but the numbers are in my head now.I'm good at remembering numbers
For calories and proteins and carbs

 

[The Dude]

I had trouble gaining when I followed a strict program. #1 you need to take more AAS.. like at least double. #2 you need to add some real food in there. #3 lastly don't try to control bodyfat while trying to put on pounds of muscle like you are. Very few people can really do that without 1g of drugs.
So I would up the test to 400mg, add in some lasagna, hamburger helper, subs, calorie dense foods, then I would add a little cardio and see how well you can control the bodyfat accumulation. What you are trying to do isn't possible for alot of guys once you get that foundation built

 

[3J]

at 5'10 and 194lbs you should be eating roughly around 3500 calories to start and slowly adding as you gain 1-2lbs a week..

youre not eating enough.. thats why youre not gaining weight.. youre getting stronger because there is a bit of a recomp effect going on, but that wont last long..

just looking at your diet id say youre in the mid 2000 calorie range..

you need to count calories.. you need to set up macros..

i would shoot for 250g protein 400g carbs and about 90g fat to start